Assessment of Alexithymia: Psychometric Properties of the Psychological Treatment Inventory-Alexithymia Scale (PTI-AS)

Alessio Gori, Marco Giannini, Giulia Palmieri, Roberta Salvini, David Schuldberg

Center for Employment and Guidance, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Psychology, The University of Montana, Missoula, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; “Gruppo Incontro” Social Cooperative, Pistoia, Italy.
School of Comparative Psychotherapy, Florence, Italy.

DOI: 10.4236/psych.2012.33032                

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties of a new measure of alexithymia, the Psychological Treatment Inventory-Alexithymia Scale (PTI-AS). Method: A group of 778 participants completed the PTI-AS. In order to evaluate aspects of concurrent validity, a part of the sample (n = 116) completed the PTI-AS, the Twenty-Items Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ). In order to evaluate aspects of discriminant validity a group of patients with a diagnosis of Eating Disorders completed the PTI-AS, the TAS-20 and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI-3). Results: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) showed a solid structure with one factor. Results were confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), which yielded good fit indices (CFI = .98; TLI = .95; RMSEA = .08; SRMR = .04). The PTI Alexithymia Scale showed a good degree of internal consistency (α = .88). Correlations between the PTI Alexithymia Scale, the TAS-20 (r = .74, p < .001) and the BVAQ (r = .40, p < .001) were statistically significant, supporting the scale’s concurrent validity. Conclusion: Thanks to its good psychometric properties the PTI-AS can be considered as a brief and useful measure for assessing alexithymia.

Keywords

Alexithymia; Personality Tests; Psychological Assessment; Psychometrics; AffectiveSymptoms

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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